\n<\/p>\n
After nearly seven years at the pet store chain, Ms Cavan began to question whether it was a path she wanted to continue on, and if she was willing to dive into the unknown.<\/p>\n
“It was a huge jump because you’re going from a very good income at the age of 23 to no income at all,” she said. “But I just wanted to do something that didn’t require me to chase a KPI.”<\/p>\n
A year later, in 2011, she quit the store and set off on a year-long backpacking trip across several places including Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand. Her solo adventure eventually led her to Boracay, in the Philippines, where she ended up staying for more than two years.<\/p>\n
There, she got acquainted with the owner of a dive shop, a Frenchman who offered her free dives in exchange for helping to translate for Chinese customers \u2013 a deal she readily agreed to.<\/p>\n
For those two years, she enjoyed the relaxed pace of Boracay. Early mornings were spent preparing gear, afternoons on suntanning and diving, and evenings attending to inquiries back at the shop \u2013 a stark contrast to the <\/strong>go-getting life she had left behind in Singapore.<\/p>\n “I could feel true happiness radiating from my belly,” recalled Ms Cavan. “That simple life made me realise what fulfilment felt like.”<\/p>\n But even then, she knew life in paradise could not last forever. “After a while, it just felt like time to go back to reality,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n So she returned to Singapore in 2014. Soon after her return, a friend working at Resorts World Sentosa told her about a job fair offering roles at the Singapore Oceanarium, known back then as the SEA Aquarium.<\/p>\n By then, her time in the Philippines had sparked a deeper interest in marine life. Seeing entire reef systems up close, and later seeing the damage left behind by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, left a lasting impression.<\/p>\n So when the aquarist opportunity arose a year later, she decided to give it a shot \u2013 despite having only a diving certification and zero knowledge of fishkeeping, theoretical or practical.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n